Quad City Travel Survey Could Be In Your Mailbox

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Check your mail!

Starting Monday, September 9th, 2013, you could be part of a survey taking place in and about the Quad Cities.

The Bi-State Regional Commission is conducting a survey that has not been done in the Quad Cities in more than 40 years that will focus on people's travel patterns.

"This will really help us understand what travel behavior and patterns are for our metropolitan area and will help us plan our roads and our sidewalk system and our transit system," says Gena McCullough, Planning Director for the Bi-State Regional Commission.

The agency will be sending out hundreds of travel diaries and are hoping to collect data from around 1,500 households. The diaries ask people to fill out where they're traveling that day, how they're getting there, and what mode of transportation they're taking.

McCullough says an interviewer will also call and ask participants some questions.

"There are a number of areas similar to ours that are conducting these surveys," says McCullough. "Wichita, Kansas is an example... Des Moines has done it. Omaha has done it. The communities in Texas do this on a regular cycle, so it is important information and it does give us some really good information on what people do to get around."

The survey is funded by a $300,000 grant from the Iowa Department of Transportation.

The Bi-State Regional Commission expects to get the raw results by the end of the year and use it to help them with their Long Range Transportation Plans, which are put together every five years and detail the projects on their priority list.